{"id":961,"date":"2022-10-11T08:31:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T12:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/?p=961"},"modified":"2022-11-01T14:42:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T18:42:23","slug":"perfect-enlightenment-8-samantabhadra-on-the-illusory-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/2022\/10\/11\/perfect-enlightenment-8-samantabhadra-on-the-illusory-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Enlightenment 8: Samantabhadra On the Illusory Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Show scripture (Chinese).<\/span>

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Chinese:<\/h2>\n

\u65bc\u662f\u666e\u8ce2\u83e9\u85a9\u5728\u5927\u773e\u4e2d\u5373\u5f9e\u5ea7\u8d77\uff0c\u9802\u79ae\u4f5b\u8db3\u53f3\u9076\u4e09\u531d\uff0c\u9577\u8dea\u53c9\u624b\u800c\u767d\u4f5b\u8a00\uff1a\u300c\u5927\u60b2\u4e16\u5c0a\uff01\u9858\u70ba\u6b64\u6703\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u773e\uff0c\u53ca\u70ba\u672b\u4e16\u4e00\u5207\u773e\u751f\u4fee\u5927\u4e58\u8005\uff0c\u805e\u6b64\u5713\u89ba\u6e05\u6de8\u5883\u754c\uff0c\u4e91\u4f55\u4fee\u884c\uff1f\u4e16\u5c0a\uff01\u82e5\u5f7c\u773e\u751f\uff0c\u77e5\u5982\u5e7b\u8005\uff0c\u8eab\u5fc3\u4ea6\u5e7b\uff0c\u4e91\u4f55\u4ee5\u5e7b\u9084\u4fee\u65bc\u5e7b\uff1f\u82e5\u8af8\u5e7b\u6027\uff0c\u4e00\u5207\u76e1\u6ec5\uff0c\u5247\u7121\u6709\u5fc3\uff0c\u8ab0\u70ba\u4fee\u884c\uff1f\u4e91\u4f55\u5fa9\u8aaa\u4fee\u884c\u5982\u5e7b\uff1f\u82e5\u8af8\u773e\u751f\u672c\u4e0d\u4fee\u884c\uff0c\u65bc\u751f\u6b7b\u4e2d\u5e38\u5c45\u5e7b\u5316\uff0c\u66fe\u4e0d\u4e86\u77e5\u5982\u5e7b\u5883\u754c\uff0c\u4ee4\u5984\u60f3\u5fc3\u4e91\u4f55\u89e3\u812b\uff1f\u9858\u70ba\u672b\u4e16\u4e00\u5207\u773e\u751f\uff0c\u4f5c\u4f55\u65b9\u4fbf\u6f38\u6b21\u4fee\u7fd2\uff0c\u4ee4\u8af8\u773e\u751f\u6c38\u96e2\u8af8\u5e7b\u3002\u300d\u4f5c\u662f\u8a9e\u5df2\u4e94\u9ad4\u6295\u5730\uff0c\u5982\u662f\u4e09\u8acb\u7d42\u800c\u5fa9\u59cb\u3002<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Show scripture (English).<\/span>

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

English:<\/h2>\n

Then Samantabhadra Bodhisattva rose from his seat in the great assembly. He bowed to the Buddha’s feet and circumambulated him three times to the right. He knelt down with his hands clasped, and said to the Buddha: \u201cGreatly Compassionate World Honoured One. I would like to ask for all the bodhisattvas at this assembly and for the sentient beings of the degenerate age who are practicing Mah\u0101y\u0101na: Please reveal the expedient stages of practice and let them hear of this pure realm of perfect enlightenment. How should we practice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWorld Honoured One, if these sentient beings know about illusion, and that body and mind are also illusion, how can they remedy illusion using illusion? If all illusory natures are completely annihilated, then there is no mind. Who is going to carry out the practice? Moreover, based on this, how can you teach the practice of illusion? If all sentient beings originally do not practice, then they will remain forever trapped within the illusion of life and death. Not having penetrated the realm of the illusory, how will they liberate the mind that is trapped in false conceptualization?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI implore you on behalf of all the bodhisattvas at this assembly, as well as for all sentient beings of the degenerate age, to teach the gradual practice of expedient means to cause sentient beings to be eternally free from all illusions?\u201d Having said this, he prostrated fully to the ground. He asked this question three times in succession.<\/p>\n

Commentary:<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Samantabhadra is the second bodhisattva posing questions to Buddha, but in terms of the practice, he was the first one. The crux of his questions was, how one practices the pure realm of perfect awareness.<\/p>\n

What gave rise to this inquiry? Because Buddha said all phenomena were like illusions. Knowing that, one would not \u201cmistakenly take the Four Elements as the attributes of their bodies and the perceived shadows of the Six Objects as the attributes of their mind.\u201d This way, both body and mind are also like illusions. How, then, could one practice with an illusion-like body-and-mind, to meditate with sky-flowers like illusion, and ignorance like illusion?<\/p>\n

Moreover, if the practice of illusion annihilates all illusions, if the body-and-mind of sentient beings is also annihilated, who, then, practices the cessation of illusion? How could we speak of the practice like illusion?<\/p>\n

\"\"Furthermore, if sentient beings do not practice, only abide in the realm of illusion living and dying, not knowing that this is the realm of illusion, how could this trapped mind become liberated?<\/p>\n

The above are three questions from the practice of illusion. Buddha would later praise these questions for expediently leading bodhisattvas and sentient beings in the latter days of dharma towards the practice of illusory sam\u0101dhi to become free from illusions.<\/p>\n

There are three primary sam\u0101dhi in the practice of Buddah-Within. The first is the illusory sam\u0101dhi that allows the observation of all worldly phenomena are like illusion. The second is \u015a\u016bra\u1e45gama<\/em> sam\u0101dhi (\u695e\u56b4\u5b9a) that breaks free of the consciousness realm to enter into the wisdom realm, transcending all worldly conceptualization, entering into the virtue of dharmakaya, whereby one enters dharmakaya with further practices abiding to this virtue. The final sam\u0101dhi is the vajra-like<\/em> sam\u0101dhi prior to the accomplishment of Buddhahood, where the coalescent realm of wisdom and consciousness possesses seven indestructible qualities (vajra-like<\/em>). This observation leads to the direct realization of the Buddha-Within, the direct realization to the profound praj\u00f1\u0101 p\u0101ramit\u0101, the direct realization entering non-duality. Samantabhadra\u2019s questions lead to the preliminary practices entering the first sam\u0101dhi. Entering the illusory sam\u0101dhi is essentially the entrance to the practice of the Buddha-Within, which is also the great-dh\u0101ra\u1e47\u012b entrance of practicing perfect enlightenment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for what has been posted so far in the series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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